This invention relates to a system for sensing a side impact collision and, more particularly, to a system which reliably determines when a side impact collision has occurred and which activates one or more vehicle safety devices in response to such a determination.
Safety devices, such as front and side inflatable restraint assemblies or xe2x80x9cair bagsxe2x80x9d, are used to reduce the likelihood of injury to occupants of the vehicle in the event of a vehicle collision. In order to properly protect the occupants of the vehicle, it is desirable to accurately detect a collision so that these safety devices can be engaged or deployed in an appropriate and timely manner.
For example and without limitation, inflatable restraint assemblies, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cair bagsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccurtainsxe2x80x9d, are typically deployed within a vehicle and selectively and inflatably expand into the passenger compartment when the vehicle is struck by or collides with another vehicle or object. One type of inflatable restraint assembly, commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9cside air bagxe2x80x9d, is contained within the seats, doors or sides of the vehicle and is designed to deploy in the event of a relatively severe side impact or collision. Particularly, these expandable assemblies substantially protect the vehicle occupants from injury by substantially preventing the occupants from impacting or xe2x80x9ccrashing intoxe2x80x9d the side and/or various other portions of the vehicle.
Efforts have been made to detect or sense when a side impact or collision has occurred, and to activate the appropriate safety devices (e.g., the side air bags) upon such detection. Some prior efforts include disposing acceleration sensors in the vehicle""s doors and measuring and/or monitoring the xe2x80x9clateralxe2x80x9d acceleration of each of the doors.
Other systems have utilized a xe2x80x9csingle-pointxe2x80x9d sensor mounted within the passenger compartment and remote from the doors of the vehicle to detect side impact collisions.
Applicants"" invention improves upon the previous systems by providing a system for sensing a side impact collision which employs multiple sensors to gather data relating to the acceleration of the vehicle, which analyzes the data to determine whether a side impact collision has occurred, and which selectively and reliably activates one or more vehicle safety devices in response to the detection of a side impact collision.
It is a first object of the invention to provide a system for sensing a side impact collision which utilizes multiple sensors to determine whether a side impact collision has occurred or is occurring.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a system for sensing a side impact collision which reliably detects a side impact collision and which selectively activates one or more vehicle safety devices in response to such a detection.
According to one aspect of the present invention a system is provided for detecting a side impact collision to a vehicle and for activating a safety device in response to the detection. The vehicle includes at least one door and a passenger compartment. The system includes at least one first sensor which is mounted to the door, which measures a first lateral acceleration value, and which generates a first signal representing the measured first lateral acceleration value; at least one second sensor which is mounted within the passenger compartment, which measures a second lateral acceleration value, and which generates a second signal representing the measured second lateral acceleration value; a selectively activatable safety device; and a controller communicatively coupled to the at least one first sensor, to the at least one second sensor, and to the selectively activatable safety device, the controller being effective to receive the first signal and the second signal, and based upon the first signal and the second signal, to detect whether a side impact collision has occurred and to selectively activate the safety device in response to the detection.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a method is provided for sensing a side impact collision to a vehicle having a plurality of doors and a passenger compartment. The method includes the steps of providing at least one first sensor disposed at a unique one of the plurality of doors; providing at least one second sensor disposed within the passenger compartment; providing at least one inflatable restraint assembly; and monitoring the at least one first sensor and the at least one second sensor to determine whether a side collision is occurring, and selectively activating the at least one inflatable restraint assembly in response to the determination.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and by reference to the following drawings.